Chapter 5: Sudden Imprisonment

“Ugh… my head is so dizzy!”

On the bed, Xia Mengxi propped herself up with one hand while rubbing her aching forehead with the other.

What exactly happened? And where is this place?

She glanced around the room. 

The walls were built entirely of gray bricks, with no windows-just the bed she was lying on and a heavy iron door, giving the distinct impression of being in a prison.

“What am I… that’s right! Lin Xue’er!”

As her consciousness gradually cleared, Xia Mengxi recalled the memories before she ended up here.

She was utterly bewildered, unable to comprehend why Lin Xue’er would do this or why she had locked her up.

“Xue’er! Xue’er, are you here?!”

Xia Mengxi pounded on the heavy iron door while shouting loudly, trying to attract the attention of the person who had brought her here. 

However, even after ten minutes of relentless knocking and yelling, there was no response from outside.

“What on earth is going on?!”

Not even a full day had passed since her transmigration, and she had already been imprisoned without any warning. 

A jumble of emotions surged within Xia Mengxi-fear, helplessness, confusion, and more.

What troubled her most was what Lin Xue’er intended to do with her.

Wait a minute! She didn’t need to worry so much-after all, she had a special ability!

Suddenly, Xia Mengxi’s face lit up as she pulled out a necklace from under her collar. 

She tried activating its power by calling out “Rewind” and other phrases, but soon, her hopeful expression crumbled.

“It’s completely useless! Does it only work under specific conditions or timing?”

With her last hope the necklace-failing her, Xia Mengxi could only turn her attention back to Lin Xue’er. 

But in a way, today was only their first meeting, so she realized she knew nothing about her.

“But… she didn’t even give me a chance to understand her! How could I possibly figure out someone’s personality on the first day?”

Xia Mengxi scratched her head and sat on the floor, hugging her knees. 

The unknown was the greatest fear-as long as Lin Xue’er didn’t show up, her anxiety wouldn’t settle.

After what felt like an eternity, Xia Mengxi, now hungry, finally heard footsteps outside the door. 

She quickly stood up, but her legs were numb, forcing her to lean against the wall while staring intently at the heavy iron door.

Click

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Xiao Xi. I brought you lunch.”

Pushing open the iron door, Lin Xue’er smiled at Xia Mengxi as if nothing was wrong. 

But there was no warmth in that smile-only a chilling, dangerous aura.

Seeing this, Xia Mengxi swallowed all the questions she had wanted to ask. 

Her instincts warned her that if she didn’t comply, something terrible would happen.

So, she silently took the lunch offered to her and ate it bit by bit under Lin Xue’er’s watchful gaze.

“Xiao Xi, aren’t you curious why I locked you up?”

“Huh?”

Xia Mengxi froze, surprised that Lin Xue’er would bring it up herself.

But this was good-if she could learn the reason, maybe she could find a way out.

“X-Xue’er, can you tell me then?”

Lin Xue’er shook her head, then her entire face darkened.

“It seems you have no idea what mistake you’ve made, Xiao Xi. In that case, I have no choice but to punish you by keeping you locked up here.”

“???”

What the hell? She… just left like that?

Xia Mengxi stared blankly as the iron door was shut, taking a long time to snap out of her daze.

What was this? Locking her up for no reason and then demanding she figure out the reason herself Lin Xue’er was being utterly unreasonable, a far cry from the gentle and kind demeanor she had shown before.

“Haah…”

Xia Mengxi took a deep breath, trying to ease her mind in this suffocating space.

Since the other party clearly had no intention of letting her out anytime soon, she might as well think carefully about what exactly had caused Lin Xue’er to act this way.

“Wait, I remember today when we were talking, her mood would suddenly drop to freezing point. Could it be because I said something I shouldn’t have?”

Recalling the events of the day, Xia Mengxi came to a conclusion—she must have unintentionally offended Lin Xue’er.

But the more she thought about it, the less sense it made. 

Even if that were the case, it shouldn’t have warranted such an extreme reaction as imprisonment. 

Could it be because of the side effects from those question marks in the choices? Very likely.

After much deliberation, she concluded that Lin Xue’er’s drastic change in behavior within a single day was entirely due to the effects of the choices she had made throughout the day. 

It seemed she should have chosen the other option.

But it was too late for regrets now. 

If they could reconcile, that would be ideal. If not, she would definitely learn from this mistake after resetting.

Since she couldn’t figure out what she had done to provoke Lin Xue’er into locking her up, she decided to try appeasing her when Lin Xue’er next visited.

“Xue’er, you’re here.”

“Mhm, you must be hungry, Xiao Xi. Here, eat first.”

Lin Xue’er’s expression was the same as before-her face wore a smile, but there was no warmth in it.

“Xue’er… I know I was wrong. Can you forgive me this once?”

“Forgive you? Then do you know exactly what you

did wrong?”

Lin Xue’er let out a cold snort, exuding an aura that sent chills down one’s spine.

“I… I don’t know, but you can tell me! As long as you say it, I’ll make sure to change.”

Despite Xia Mengxi’s earnest expression, Lin Xue’er remained unmoved, even shutting down the conversation entirely.

“If you could forget once, you’ll forget a second time, a third, a fourth-countless times. Unless you remember it yourself, I’ll never let you out.”

“W-Wait! Xue’er, wait!”

Seeing Lin Xue’er about to leave again, Xia Mengxi rushed to the door and reached out to stop it from closing.

But then Lin Xue’er shot her a terrifying glare, causing her hands to go weak in fear. 

She could only watch helplessly as the iron door slammed shut once more.

“She left again…”

She had thought she could appeal to the other’s sympathy for a proper conversation, but who knew Lin Xue’er wouldn’t fall for it at all? 

Worse, her words were so logical that Xia Mengxi, who had been certain she hadn’t done anything wrong, now felt a flicker of doubt.

“No, even if what she said was right, the problem is that in my eyes, I’ve only just met her today. That was close-I almost got sucked in.”